Superboy: The Boy of Steel
by einsteinjet
Summary: Based on characters appearing in DC Comics.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

John Corben raced through the streets of Metropolis, $52,000,000 in the trunk. The police were chasing him, trying to shoot at Corben's tires. Corben tried turning random corners, but the police stayed on his tail. Eventually, Corben turned onto a suspension bridge. He saw some police cars coming from the other side of the bridge. He was almost caught. He turned to try to get away from them.

He turned in the wrong direction.

Corben drove off the edge of the bridge and fell into the river. The car sank and filled with water. Corben tried to unbuckle himself, but he couldn't hold his breath long enough. Eventually, he passed out.

* * *

Corben woke up in an abandoned warehouse. There was a man dressed in black next to him.

"Hello, Mr. Corben.", said the man. "I have a proposition for you."


	2. Super Feats

**Superboy: The Boy of Steel**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Super Feats**

Superboy hovered over Metropolis. Summer had just started, so he had all the free time in the world, and Superman was taking some time to save people internationally, so Superboy had Metropolis to himself.

"Alright, Pete, what've you got for me?"

Superboy had an earpiece small enough not to be noticed; Pete was on the other end, looking at his Starrware news app.

 _"There's a building on fire at Siegel Avenue."_

Superboy flew to the building and used his X-ray vision to see if anyone was inside. There was a mother and her child on a floor near the top. Superboy flew in and got them outside and on the ground. He then flew back up and blew out the fire with his super-breath.

"Done. What else?"

 _"Bank robbers at Shuster Street."_

The robbers were in their getaway car trying to evade the police. Superboy landed in front of them. The car screeched to a halt in front of him. One of the robbers got out of the car and punched Superboy, breaking his hand.

"Oh. My. Gosh. You did not just do that."

The police caught up and arrested the bank robbers.

"Next?"

 _"Cat stuck in a tree."_

"Classic."

A little girl was trying to get her cat to come down. Superboy flew up to the tree, picked up the cat, and flew down and gave the cat to the girl.

"Thank you, Superboy."

The girl went inside with her cat.

 _"Um...Jason?"_

"Yeah?"

 _"There's a guy with powers at Centennial Park."_


	3. Corben

**Chapter 2**

 **Corben**

"What do you mean, 'a guy with powers'?"

 _"He must have super strength, because he's throwing stuff around; cars, hotdog stands..."_

"I'm on it."

Superboy flew to Centennial Park and found John Corben.

"I think I've seen that guy before. He's the guy that tried to shoot Superman in the eye."

 _"Oh yeah, I remember that guy."_

Superboy landed in front of Corben.

"I was hoping to get Superman's attention," said Corben, "but I'll settle for you."

Corben punched Superboy, sending him flying. Superboy flew back and punched Corben. When he did, thought he heard something inside Corben, like metal. Superboy used his X-ray vision on Corben, and saw a metal skeleton. He fired his heat vision at Corben, burning off his outer layer of skin and revealing a metallic endoskeleton. Just when Superboy thought that was the only surprise, Corben fired a beam of energy from his chest, sending Superboy flying into the nearby trees. Corben started to walk towards where Superboy landed, but started to feel his power getting low, and left.

* * *

Pete and Lois were watching the scene unfold on the news at Jason's house. The cameras were all focused on Corben, so they couldn't see what happened to Jason.

Pete tried to talk to him on his earpiece. "Jason? Jason, are you alright?"

...

 _"I'm okay. He got away. I'll be back in a minute."_


	4. Jason

**Chapter 3**

 **Jason**

Jason went into his house.

"Well...I wasn't expecting...any of that.", he said.

"Who exactly was that guy?", said Pete.

Lois Googled "who tried to shoot Superman in the eye?". "John Corben. He's a career criminal who robs banks for a living."

"Not anymore.", said Pete. "He's the Terminator, now. Is that even possible?"

"I think a better question is: Who did this to him?" Jason got a notification on his phone. "Oh, I almost forgot..."

"What?"

"I have a date with Lisa today."

"I'll let you know if any emergencies happen."

* * *

Jason and Lisa arrived just outside a restaurant, just as Jason got a message from Pete.

"You gotta be kidding me.", said Jason.

"Go ahead.", said Lisa. "We can do this tomorrow."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. The city needs you."

This kind of thing happened a lot, but Lisa was okay with it. Just as Jason jumped into the air, Lisa noticed something.

His skin started to turn gray.

As Jason flew higher, he noticed it too. His skin turned gray...

And cracked.

"Jason" flew away.


	5. Jason?

**Chapter 4**

 **Jason?**

Lisa ran through the city as fast as she possibly could. She didn't think to call a cab. She just thought about what she just saw. She had to warn Pete and Lois. She finally got to the house, but "Jason" was already there.

"Lisa?", he said. "What's up?"

"I...I just...wanted to see what was going on."

"Oookay. Well, there's another bank being robbed, so I'm gonna go handle it."

"Oh...great." That meant he wouldn't be here.

"Are you okay?", said Lois.

"Uh, y-yeah. I'm fine. You?"

"Great. The baby's almost here. Any day, now."

"Well, I'd better get going.", said "Jason." "Those criminals aren't gonna stop themselves."

"Jason" left. Lisa waited until he was out of earshot. His earshot.

"That wasn't Jason.", she said.

"What?", said Pete.

"When you called him, before he jumped off, his skin turned gray."

"You think he's Bizarro? Jason beat him _nine months_ ago."

"Did he? I mean, we didn't see it happen. We just took Jason's word for it."

"Lisa, I know my son.", said Lois. "That _is_ him."

"Bizarro has all of Jason's memories. Do you think I'm making this up?"

"No.", said Pete. "You're not crazy. You must have seen _something_. Maybe it was the way the light was hitting him, I don't no."

"Lisa, it's been nine months.", said Lois. "Jason hasn't seemed off _at all._ I _promise_ you, that's him."


	6. Alpha Waves

**Chapter 5**

 **Alpha Waves**

It was the middle of the night, and Lisa couldn't sleep. What if Jason _was_ Bizarro? And if he was, where was the real Jason? He could literally be anywhere on or near Earth. She needed some way to find him.

She got an idea.

* * *

The next day, Jason was about to go out on patrol. Pete and Richard were monitoring the news, and Lois was reading the latest newspaper. The front page talked about Corben's attack. They called him Metallo.

As Jason was closing the front door, his skin started to turn gray. Pete, Richard, and Lois were stunned. They heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?", said Richard.

 _"It's Lisa."_

"Come in."

Lisa came in, holding a laptop and a small black box with an antenna.

"Lisa...you were right.", said Pete.

...

Lisa slapped him.

"Ow!"

"That was for not believing me."

Pete noticed the black box. "What is that?"

"This is how we're going to find Jason. It can track Kryptonians."

"Where did you get it?"

"...That's not important."

"Lisa...where did you get this?"

"...We'll talk about it later."

Lisa plugged the box into the laptop, and a map of Metropolis came on the screen, with a few blips representing Kryptonians. One of them was weaker than the others. It went around the city before stopping at a restaurant. "Jason" had just finished his patrol, and was now at the restaurant, waiting for Lisa, who he had a date with, today. There was another weak blip at the school.

"That must be Jason.", said Richard. "I'll go get him."

Richard left.

"I'll go to the restaurant.", said Lisa. "We can't have Bizarro getting suspicious."

Lisa left.

"Jason might not be up to fighting Bizarro right now.", said Pete. "There must be another way we can take him out."

"Last week, Superman gave Jason this crystal.", said Lois. "It's like a flash-grenade, but for yellow sunlight. It's supposed to give him a boost if he's in an emergency..."

"But it'll weaken Bizarro. Where is it?"


	7. Bizarro

**Chapter 6**

 **Bizarro**

Lisa went to the restaurant. "Jason" was waiting for her outside. Before they could go in, Pete ran up to them.

"Pete?", said "Jason." "What's going on?"

Pete lead them into an alley. He took out the crystal.

"What's going on?"

Pete hit the crystal, trying to get it to work. Finally, it released a blinding flash of yellow sunlight. When it faded, Bizarro's skin was fully gray and cracked. Pete and Lisa managed to subdue him, because the sunlight de-powered him.

"How are you still alive?", said Lisa.

"After I fought Jason, I drifted through space, unconscious. I probably would've died if I didn't land."

"Where did you land?"

"New Krypton. It was mostly rock, with some kryptonite embedded in the surface. I dug down to the core, which was pure kryptonite. I absorbed enough radiation to make me temporarily immune to sunlight."

"When did you switch with Jason?", said Pete.

"Just after he fought Metallo."

Lisa looked out of the alley. "Speaking of which..."

Pete and Bizarro looked out and saw Metallo out in the street.

"You're going to have to let me go, if you want him to be stopped.", said Bizarro.

"No.", said Pete. "Jason will be here any minute."

"How many people do you think will get hurt before he gets here?"

"Even if we wanted to let you go, you're de-powered."

"About that... Those crystal flash-grenades... I figured out how to make my own."

Bizarro took out a crystal. Before Pete and Lisa could stop him, there was a blinding flash of green light.


	8. Bizarro vs Metallo

**Chapter 7**

 **Bizarro vs. Metallo**

"Superboy" flew up to Metallo. Metallo fired his energy beam. "Superboy" dodged the first few times. Eventually, he was hit, causing his skin to crack and turn gray, revealing to onlookers who he really was. Metallo threw a car up into the air. It headed towards Pete and Lisa. Bizarro caught it. Metallo noticed that he made sure Lisa was okay. Bizarro flew at Metallo. Metallo swatted him away, ran over to Pete and Lisa, took Lisa, and leaped away with her. As Bizarro was about to fly after them, Superboy flew in and punched him away.

"Jason!", said Bizarro. "Wait! Lisa's in danger!"

"Yeah, right."

Superboy used his super-breath to try and freeze Bizarro. Bizarro fired back with his own super-breath, but instead of being cold, it was hot; hot enough to set the air on fire. Superboy used his heat vision, Bizarro used his cold vision.

Pete ran up to them. "Superboy! He's telling the truth."

Superboy turned to Bizarro. "I'll deal with you later." He flew away.


	9. Twelfth Degree

**Chapter 8**

 **Twelfth Degree**

Metallo tied Lisa to a chair in a warehouse.

"What do you want with me?", she said.

Metallo walked away.

"What, can't you talk?"

"No. He can't." A man dressed in black walked into Lisa's field of view. He seemed normal, except he had purple eyes and talked in a monotone. "He can't form words without a mouth, and Superboy burned that off in their first fight." He turned to Metallo. "I will have to fix that when I make your new body. Speaking of which, I have located your new power source. The coordinates are in your memory banks."

Metallo left.

"New power source?", said Lisa.

"The uranium capsule in his core only lasts twenty-four hours. Less, if he fires his energy weapon. But there is an isotope that will last decades. I just had to find it."

"Who are you, anyway?"

"Me? I am among the most feared beings in the twenty-eight known galaxies."

"You don't look all that scary."

"I posses intellegence of the twelfth degree. I am the Master of Scientific Forces. The Tyrant of Bryak. The Butcher of Yod. The Collector of Worlds."

"Like I'm supposed to know what any of that means."

"You will know what it means. Very soon."


	10. Heart of Stone

**Chapter 9**

 **Heart of Stone**

Superboy flew through the city, using his super hearing and X-ray vision, trying to find Lisa. He didn't have any luck. Then, he thought he heard something. It was in his head, like a subliminal message. He followed it, and came to a warehouse. Superman was outside the warehouse.

"You heard it, too?", said Jason. "What is it?"

"I've heard this kind of signal before. It's Kryptonian." Superman tried looking into the building with his X-ray vision. "The whole place is lined with lead."

Superman and Superboy quietly walked into the warehouse. It was pitch-black inside. The was a single light in the center of the room. Under it was Lisa, tied to a chair. A man stepped into the light.

"Who are you?", said Superman.

"I am the Collector of Worlds. The most feared being in the twenty-eight galaxies. I have uprooted the civilizations of dozens of worlds."

"And Earth is your next target?"

"No. I have other plans for this world."

"Let the girl go.", said Superboy.

The man untied Lisa. "She's served her purpose." Lisa ran to Superboy.

"What do you want with us?", said Superman.

"I want you to meet an associate of mine."

The lights came on. Metallo was standing behind the man. He had a new body; one that looked more like a body than just a skeleton.

"Metallo.", said Superman.

"In the flesh."

"It would be easier for you to surrender now.", said the man.

"I've fought three Kryptonians before. This shouldn't be too much harder."

"About that...", said Metallo. "There's something I need to get of my chest."

Metallo fired a beam of green energy from his chest. It hit Superman, making him feel weak. It was kryptonite. Superman punched Metallo into a wall. Metallo fired his beam again. Superman flew around the warehouse, trying to dodge it. He flew in front of the man in black. Metallo's beam hit the man's face. The heat of the beam set it on fire. Superman blew out the fire with his super-breath. The fire had burned the man's skin, revealing green artificial flesh over a robotic skull. On his forehead were three circles, arranged in an upside-down triangle, connected by two lines.

Superman saw the circles on his forehead. "We have to go. Go!"

Superman and Superboy flew off with Lisa. Metallo was about to go after them.

"Wait.", said the man in black. "You don't need to follow them. Everything is as I planed.


End file.
